What I mean by “insertion” is, “How does the character start when entering the game for the very first time?” Where is one first inserted into the game? When loading up Hellgate: London for the very first time I found myself standing in a dead-end at the back of an alley. Monsters blocked the way out.

If one’s looking to just clicky-click and kill things, that’s fine. It’s straight forward, it’s idiot proof. That’s great. If one’s looking to lose oneself in the game however, the starting point is just… inorganic (to use the screenwriting term).

It causes the player to think, “Why the hell am I trapped in the back of an alley? Is my character an idiot? Oh that’s right, it’s just a game!”, and that last thought is exactly what you DON’T want your players thinking.

For immersion to work best, a game must strive to make its players forget they are playing a game.

With Hellgate: London, the designers just picked a place that’d be idiot proof, without a single thought towards lore immersion. And that’s a shame, because Hellgate: London has some seriously awesome lore.

All that being said, the opposite is true too. You don’t want your newbie player logging on for the first time into a situation so immersive that all they can think is, “What the hell is going on!?” A balance must be found. A game’s starting point should be idiot proof and lore immersive at the same time. WoW pulls this off with the whole, “Welcome newcomer! So you think you’ve got what it takes? Prove it! Go kill ten boars!” Personally though, I think it could be a bit more exciting.

How could Hellgate: London pull this off? Maybe something like this:

You load into the game. You’re in a room, laying on a cot, killing time somehow when a man runs in and yells, “The Seraphim! The Elite! Something has killed them! Please, Templar, you’re the only warrior here. Find out what happened!” The room only has one exit, so off you go.

I’m sure many of you could come up with a better example, but the point is clear. A starting point like this is idiot proof and lore immersive. The player starts the game pumped , knowing what to do, and thinking, “Oh damn, what have a gotten myself into?!” …Not standing at the back of an alley like a 1980′s side scroller.

First impressions resonate… and with better immersion through proper insertion, the player’s first experience can improve the game as a whole.

Originally posted at: Loregy.com

Better Immersion through Proper Insertion

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What interested me most was the map. An interesting concept to follow a line, leading somewhere. The developers might not like it though as that would pigeon-hole them into a “What do we do once we reach Point B?” situation.

The specific destinations on the map cause me to raise an eyebrow though. Paris would be tough to do without simply being “more of London”. I fully agree with Rome, a city thick with lore. Cairo? Babylon? Maybe. To me though, this is Hellgate; a game that prominently exhibits the Templar. And if you’re going to use the Templar then you need to use Jerusalem.

“Hellgate: Jerusalem” could also introduce a new faction, the “Hashshashim”, the medieval Muslim sect where we get the word “assassin”. And if developers wished to sound timely and deep they could point out that what “Hellgate: Jerusalem” offers is a situation where the Christian and Muslim worlds have joined forces to defeat Hell within one of the world’s most holy cities. Plenty of lore for some awesome story telling and one heck of an expansion.

On a side note a poll also posted at the hellgateguru.com forums lists “Hellgate: Tokyo” as the top choice. Tokyo? Hmm. At this point, the lore of Hellgate is based on a Christian, Judaic, and plausibly Muslim foundation. With that in mind, I think the series should stay in the “old world” where those religions were formed. Namely, western Europe and the Middle East. Shinto and Bhuddhism just don’t gel with the whole “HELLGATE” thing.

Doesn’t mean I don’t want to see a feudal Japan MMO though.

-C-

Originally posted at: Loregy.com

Hellgate Expansion Idea

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